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Comment by mschuster91 | Hacker News Reader

Uh, where does Skype compete with any Google service?

edit: to those answering "Hangouts", can that actually be considered competition?

That's the funny thing about Google abysmal failure in most products outside search and gmail, their subpar competition doesn't even rank in most people's mind unless they force it on you.

The competition is not subpar, the apps just benefit from network economies, and the best does not always win. Just look at Whatsapp.

Well, WA actually did win, because it was the best.

Whatsapp is like the Ryanair of messaging: no ads, no games, (up to FB acquisition) no data mining, basically: no frills, no hassles.

Compare that with Skype/MSN Messenger, the FB Messenger or basically any other messenger out there: ads, more ads, MORE FUCKING ADS, a PITA to add/find new contacts (Whatsapp just bootstraps with the contact manager of the phone!), oh and did I forget MORE FUCKING SHITLOADS OF ADS? And no way to pay to just get rid of them?

Well, the current version of WhatsApp is eating my battery like crazy on my Android 4.4 / Nexus 4. And I hate their accounts / login system, as it depends on having an SMS-enabled plan and capable device. This means I cannot use WhatsApp on my desktop, on my iPad, on any device other than my primary phone basically, or when traveling at which point I shun roaming charges for local pre-pay plans.

Facebook's Messenger for example, or any messenger service not mapped directly to your primary phone number, has no problems with any of that.

> did I forget MORE FUCKING SHITLOADS OF ADS?

Facebook's Messenger has no ads, or promoted posts, or anything related to your stream in it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.o...

This goes for Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or XMPP services in general (hosted by you or not), amongst myriads of messenger services that don't do ads. So I think you're exaggerating.

> This goes for Google Hangouts, Skype, Slack or XMPP services in general (hosted by you or not), amongst myriads of messenger services that don't do ads. So I think you're exaggerating. Google is known to mine your data for personalization of advertising of Mail ads, but I do not know if this is also done for Hangout chats.

Skype has ads like hell (open a chat on a netbook, half the vertical screen size is lost to ads and fucked up layout), Facebook the same (sidebar on the web site), and likely also data mining.

How can you call an app that can only be installed in one device, "the best"?

GTalk, for example, offered the same services, plus sync across all device, plus better security and encryption.

There are and have been many messaging apps just like whatsapp: Viber, Kik... And many more that we have never heard of.

Hangouts

hangouts?

edit: yes.

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